In a world of decadence, with perfect
palaces and perfect people, things are hardly ever perfect. The excesses
are present but only to satisfy human desires. The maids are busty and
gorgeous, the palace walls are adorned with gold, jewels and intricate
carvings, the emperor, empress and their kids are flawless in
appearance, but the palace is a microcosm for lies, treachery and hidden
desires.

The movie follows the destruction of the imperial family in the Tang
Dynasty. In this world, everybody has secrets, but everybody knows
everything. The transparency of formality and normalcy has to override
all the double-crossing and personal agendas. The odd thing is that
nobody would ever know about these secrets because even if revealed they
would never leave the palace walls. The movie takes place completely
inside the palace walls, save for one small sequence, where the emperor
decides to tie some loose ends. What do you do when you want to keep
secrets that, when exposed, wouldn’t change anything? The outer layer is
a lot more important than the inside.

The palace is tremendous and the costumes are breathtaking. Always known
for the stunning cinematography in his films, director Zhang Yimou once
again crafts a story through visuals. The framing is amazing and shows
off the ridiculously ornate sets. The colours are a character of their
own and combined with the work of director of photography Zhang Xiaoding
(who previously worked with the director on ‘House
of Flying Daggers’, with tremendous shots), the movie has great
life and vibrancy. The beyond-vivid colours bring out the larger than
life characters.

Gong Li teams up with the director for the first time since 1995’s ‘Shanghai
Triad’ and she’s in fine form with the director. She gives a
stunning and heartfelt performance. Chow Yun-fat is once again
tremendous, and his charisma permeates every frame he’s in. Taiwanese
pop star Jay Chou and Mainlander Liu Ye play the princes and give
believable performances. The rest of the cast populates the movie,
bringing this microcosm to life. The trials and tribulations of this
family may not be normal, but they represent something much bigger.

Zhang Yimou directs a wonderfully visual movie. Though it will no doubt
be marketed in the West as an action movie (artistically choreographed
by Ching Siu-tung), the movie is essentially a drama. Taking out the
action would not take any of the pertinence or entertainment value of
the movie. The sumptuous sets and lavish production values cost a pretty
penny, and the money definitely shows.

This is the third in Zhang Yimou’s action trilogy (which includes ‘Hero’
and ‘House
of Flying Daggers’)
and neither has the depth, meaning or action of the previous movies. It
is, however a visual feast, an orgiastic experience akin to the lavish
lifestyles of the royal family. Unfortunately with excess comes
consequences and someone has to pay for the decadence and excess.

ADDITION: Sony - Region
1- NTSC - March 07': The image quality of both appears to be very
similar. The Edko has some saturated colors (looking less realistic) at
times and the Sony shows a few less artifacts but the differences are
negligible - but I will go with the Region 1. The big issue for me here
are the subtitles - the Sony ones are disgustingly big and bright yellow
- very intrusive onto the wonderful images (see below). I find it quite
terrible.

There are some
differences in the DUBs offered and subtitle choices. The Edko has the
DTS where the Sony has only a 5.1 but it sounded quite buoyant to me
with great separation in the rears.

They both sport the same subtitled featurette but the
Edko has a few more bells and whistles with trailers and a photo gallery
plus the trinkets - pins, a certificate of authenticity and a
chess set?!

For my
money you can keep the sundry keepsakes - as in my house they invariably
end up in the trash. I certainly don't think they are worth an
additional $50. The single HK DVD is $16 (Sony is $20) and if you are as
perturbed about the atrocious Sony subtitles as I then that is what I
suggest. If you don't mind that then the extra couple of bucks is worth
it for Sony's marginally superior colors.

***

In addition to the
features mentioned above, the Collector's Set comes with a couple of
pins, a certificate of authenticity and a chess set!

Sorry there aren't any sub sample, but for some reason they didn't show
up on the captures I tried to take. They're small and white and are very
unobtrusive. On to the DVD...

The video is great. Edko has done strong work in the past and this is
another example. It's not perfect, as I believe detail could be improved
on (but not by much). The colours are vibrant and almost leap off the
screen. The print is clean and crisp.

The audio is amazing, as well. Accurate positions, dynamic use of the
speakers, especially during the action sequences. The big fight at the
end is tremendous. A great mixing job here, on the same level as Hero,
but not as bombastic, which some people didn't like too much about that
track.

The sole significant extra is a
21-minute or so documentary which is clearly aimed at the international
market. No doubt Sony will have this on their region 1 release. It's
narrated in English, with the director, three main actors and action
director talking, mostly in Mandarin. It's basically an EPK, but the
behind the scenes footage is nice and you get some good tidbits of
information. The trailers are likewise for the international market,
given you see the Sony Pictures Classics logo at the start. Hopefully,
Edko will spring for a second release (like they did with Hero and
Fearless), but with better special features.

The package is great, with a chess set to keep you busy. The chess
pieces are cardboard and not plastic, but it's still great to see the
effort going into the release.